The three Lyman Diaries chronicle Jonathan F. Lyman's experiences as a
youth in San Jose, Calif.; as a student at the University of the Pacific
(1890-1892); and, as a young husband working as a carpenter in Stockton, Calif.
(1895-1897).

Background

Jonathan F. Lyman (b. 1871) grew up in San Jose (Calif.) where he worked
as a janitor, soda jerk, clerk and carpenter while briefly enrolled as a
pre-ministerial student at the University of the Pacific (1890-92). Following
his marriage to Belle Moyle, a UOP Academy student (1893), Lyman quit school
and subsequently moved to Stockton (1895) where he worked as a carpenter until
about 1899. He, his, wife, and his five children were living in San Mateo in
1900. The 1910 census indicates that his wife is a widow living in Turlock.